


All There Is to Say

by morsly



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2497028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morsly/pseuds/morsly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop<br/>I love so much<br/>All of the while,<br/>it was you."</p><p>Beatrice and Benedick fall in love over coffee and misunderstandings. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After today's video, I guess it's time to try a multi-chapter NMTD fic. This is just setting up the story, but please let me know what you think! Thank you all for reading.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, four PM, like clockwork she comes in.  A medium coffee, sugar, no milk, iced during the summer.  The name she gives is Bee.  Or maybe Bea.  Possibly Be?  Or B.  Or Beigh.  He’s not really sure, so he spells it differently each time.  The last one always gets a small smile directed at the floor.

She comes in, orderers her drink, sits at the same table, and reads a book for exactly half an hour.  It’s usually a textbook.  Public health or something with anatomy is all the title he ever sees.  When she’s done her coffee, she packs up and goes, maybe giving him a small nod if he’s in range.  When her half an hour is coming to an end, he always makes sure he is.

He’s smitten with her.  She has these sad eyes that are a piercing blue.  She never looks sad, just her eyes.  And the way she sits over her book.  It has her full attention.  When Olivia had dumped him two months ago by throwing empty cartons of milk at him from the trash, she hadn’t even looked up.  Good thing, too.  It was right embarrassing, her screaming about how all he wanted to do was watch Sci Fi and study.  But Bee or Bea or Be or Beigh hadn’t noticed.

He bet she was sassy.  Socially aware and loyal, but also prefered to stay home and watch films as opposed to dancing at clubs.  His idea of her was perfect.

But here it was, four thirty PM on Thursday, and the object of his fantasy was no where to be found.  Today was not a good day for breaking the pattern.  He was finally going to get up the courage to say more than “What can I get ya?”  and “One medium coffee for Bee!”

Another hour passed, and he had almost completely given up home when she walked in, this time holding absolutely no books, just her wallet and phone.

“What can I get ya?”

She smiled slightly.  “Medium coffee, sugar, no milk.  Same as always?”

He couldn’t meet her eye.  “Right, that’s two o’ five.  Name please?”

“Bea, spelled b-e-a.”

“Bea?”  He finally looked up.

“Yeah, like Beatrice.”

“Oh.  Ben,” he shrugged.

“What?”

“I’m Ben.”

“Oh, yeah.”  She shook her head and handed him some cash.  “You’re friends with Claudio and Pedro.  I’ve seen you around.”

He felt the blood rush to his face.  “You’ve seen me?”

She looked at the counter.  “I guess you didn’t recognize me outside of the context of this coffee shop.”

“I guess not.”  He went to pour her cup, completely embarrassed that the girl of his dreams had ‘seen him around.’  Oh god.  And she knew Pedro and Claudio.  He turned around to hand her the cup.

“And I’m Hero’s cousin.”

“Oh my god!”  Well, _shit_ , she was related to one of his best friend’s girlfriends and he had no idea.  He had blown it.  Absolutely blown it with his complete incompetence.

“Yeah.  Well, I’ve got to get going.  I’m running late.  See ya later, Ben.”  She was already halfway out the door.

“Bye, Bea.”

She practically fumed down the sidewalk.  She really didn’t even need to get coffee that day.  She was supposed to meet Hero to get ready for this fancy dinner party.  But no, her damn emotions and practically perfect cousin had told her to go see Benedick, fall in love with the guy at the coffee shop or some shit.   She thought they were just playing some sort of ‘I don’t know you but I do’ game.  But no.  He had no idea who she was.  It wasn’t like she really knew him either.  But she knew _of_ him.  She had seen him at parties, and he was one of Claudio’s closest friends.  When she finally did introduce herself, hoping he would get it, that the game was over, you can ask me out now, he didn’t even seem like he wanted to talk to her.  All quiet and detached.  He was probably just some pretentious humanities major.  Awkwardly cute on the outside, but obnoxious and mean and insufferable on the inside.

True, it wasn’t really fair to judge him when she didn’t know him, but she had been coming in at the same time for months.  She saw him get dumped, for god’s sake.  Trash flying everywhere.  She girl seemed crazy at the time, but she probably knew what she was doing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, my Pedro is flamboyant. I love it. Again, your feedback is always wanted! Thanks for reading.

**The Dinner Party Part 1**

If there had been _any_ other coffee shop close to her public health class, she would have gone.  But no.  The closest one was a Starbucks and she was not about to give in to the corporate man just for a guy.  Not this guy.  She would suck it up and go in, see Ben, study, go home to pizza and and good book.  Just like always.  

She kept telling herself that it was really only awkward for her.  She had been the one with the wild fantasy of a coffee shop romance.  She had been the one who assumed that he would be interested in her.  That he actually knew her, or at least wanted to.

 _Classic, judgemental, presumptuous Beatrice_ , she thought.  Of course, the one time she had been presumptuous in a decent way, it backfired.   _Fucking Ben with his fucking novelty t-shirts and dark hair and goofy grin.  Yeah, fuck him._

She took a deep breath and opened the door.  A quick scan placed him behind the counter, talking to a girl in an apron that she’d never seen before.  The girl was pretty.  Red hair, fair skin, small like a little Irish pixie.  She was someone Bea thought Ben would totally go for.  She shook her head as she walked up to the counter.  She did not know Ben and she did _not_ care about cute redheads he worked with.

“Hey Bea!”

“Hi.”  She tried to sound uninterested.

“This is Isabelle.  She’s my new trainee.”

“Hi.”  Again with the lack of enthusiasm.

“Just your regular?”  He kept smiling too big at her.  Weirdo.

“Yeah.”  She paid him and looked at her phone while he got her drink.

He put her cup on the counter, and she finally made eye contact.  He grinned again.  “Are you going to Claudio and Hero’s dinner party on Friday.”

She grabbed her cup.  “It’s at my flat.  So, yeah.”

She was turning away from him towards her table as he said “Great!  See you there.”

...

Hero was always slightly insufferable before a party.  The fact that she had invited Ben without asking made it worse.  She looked incredible, of course, dressed in a gold brocade a-line dress, hair swept into a seemingly effortless updo, and dramatic eye makeup.  It made being mad at her harder.  The fact that she had made Beatrice do place settings and clean up her area in the living room made it easier.  Not to mention that she had insisted on constricting Beatrice into a sparkly belt on the waist of her perfectly simple sleeveless, cranberry a-line dress.

“You need bling,” Hero stated, holding up two possible statement necklaces and the belt.  

“I hate bling.”

“But you need it.”  She handed her cousin the belt and marched back into the kitchen to finish a pasta dish or chocolate mousse or whatever decadent course she had planned.  Beatrice sulked to the bathroom to do one last once over before guests started arriving.

She had the same haircut since high school.  It was easy.  Tonight she was securing the hair out of her face with a few bobby pins.  Her nail polish had all chipped off, so that didn’t take away from her look.  Or Hero’s look for her.  She was contemplating a mole on her arm when the doorbell rang.

“Bea, can you get it?”  Hero called from the kitchen.

“Fine!”  She started towards the door.  “But I’m still not happy about any of this!”  She opened the door to Pedro and Claudio.  She went straight for the bottle Pedro was holding.  “You brought booze!  My hero!”  She stepped aside to let them in.

“I wouldn’t get too excited,”  Pedro kissed her cheek.

“Ugh, it’s wine.”  She turned to Claudio.  “Why do you torture me?”

“And with that I’m going to find Hero.”  He walked into the kitchen.

Beatrice and Pedro were behind him when the bell rang again.  Balthazar, Pedro’s boyfriend.  He was greeted with a “Why didn’t you two come together?” from Beatrice.

“Claud is my roommate, Balth is my boyfriend.”  Pedro grabbed his hand and they made their way into the kitchen, leaving Bea at the doorway holding yucky wine.

 _It must have some alcohol in it_.  She went to pour herself a glass.

“You should let that breathe.”  Pedro said as she uncorked it.  

“It won’t make it any better.”  She poured all the guests one as well.  Hero declined.

She was taking a sip when she realized it: she was the only one without a significant other.  And then it hit her, this was a set up.  She put down her disgusting drink and practically yanked Hero out of the room with a small “We need to talk.”

“Yes, Beatrice?”  She asked, all cutes-y when they had gotten into Bea’s bedroom.

“You guys are trying to set me up with Ben!”

“Are not!”  She was chewing a smile.

“Okay, well then why are only couples invited?”

“Ben’s single.”

“That’s a given for the ‘you’re trying to get us together’ accusation.”

“We just want you to be happy, Bea.”  She held her cousin’s hand.

“I am happy.  I have school and Sherlock and you!  What more do I need?”

“That’s not happy.  Look, just give him a chance.”

“I did.  I hate him.”

“You don’t know him.”  The doorbell rang.  “I’ll let him in.  You try and compose yourself for our guest.”

Beatrice made a face at Hero’s back.  It was all like a bad rom com.  All the friends in relationships trying to get the single girl into a relationship.  Talk about a trope.  She walked back into the kitchen to get her glass of wine.  If she was going to fight this battle against her friends, Ben, and her feelings of ‘you’re cute but I hate you’ for Ben, she was going to need a weapon.

And alcohol is always a good choice.


End file.
